AWWWW...

From the Guardian:

It is an unusual romance, to say the least. He is made of flesh, blood and shell while she is constructed entirely out of plastic.

But after years of heartache, Timmy the tortoise seems to have found some sort of comfort by teaming up with Tanya the plastic toy tortoise.

Timmy, a Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni), appears to dote on Tanya night and day since the pair were brought together by keepers at the sanctuary where he lives after he was "bullied" by other real tortoises.

The sprightly 60-year-old fetches her food (and does not seem to mind that she does not eat it) and nuzzles his head against hers. He will not go to bed unless she is put into his hut before him.

Surely one of the sweetest stories I've read in a while. Wouldn't it be lovely if Timmy found a live turtle sweetie? Although the way he dotes on Tanya, perhaps he wouldn't take to a live lady turtle. He may prefer the quiet type.

Thanks to Cathy for the link.


UPDATE:Thanks to Lapin for the link to a video of Timmy and Tanya.

BEEN THERE

A woman was following a grandfather, in the supermarket, with his badly-behaved 3-year-old grandson. It was obvious to her that he really had his hands full. The child was screaming for sweets in the candy aisle, and for fruit, cereal and soda in the other aisles.

Meanwhile, Gramps was working his way around, saying, in a very controlled voice, "Easy, William. We won't be long. Easy boy." Another outburst, and she heard the grand-dad calmly saying, "It's okay, William. Just a couple of more minutes, and we'll be out of here. Hang in there, boy."

At the checkout counter, the little terror was now throwing items out of the cart. Gramps said again, in a continuing controlled voice, "William, William. Relax, buddy. Don't get upset, now. We'll be home in five-minutes. Just, stay cool, William."

Very impressed, the woman went outside, where the grandfather was loading both his groceries, and the obnoxious little cuss, into the car.

She said to the calm elderly gentleman, "It's really none of my business, but, you were simply amazing, in there. I just don't know how you actually did it. That whole time, you simply kept your composure and, no matter how loud and disruptive he eventually got, you just calmly kept saying that things would soon be okay. William is so very lucky, to have you as his grand-father."

"Thanks, lady," said the grandfather. "However, I'm actually William. This little brat's name is Steve."

Don blame me. Blame Doug.

MORE ON WOMEN BISHOPS IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Lapinbizarre has left a new comment on your post "PROTECT ME, PLEASE, FROM FEMALE MINISTRY!":

According to Simon Sarmiento's account at Thinking Anglicans, the "Women Bishops" measure has passed, apparently without a vote count. The proposal of Simon Killwick, an Anglo-Catholic priest, that the measure be sent back to committee for further revision, was defeated 102 to 293 (12 abstentions), and an amendment requiring 2/3 majorities for any future revision to the legislation passed by 287 to 78 (20 abstentions) even though the steering committee opposed the measure. Clearly, therefore, General Synod is firmly behind the legislation, notwithstanding the closeness of Saturday's vote.

Thanks, Lapin. The whole process had become too detailed and complicated for me to follow. I don't have a "Robert's Rules of Order" kind of mind. My brain tunes out of its own volition after a spell.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I gather that if the actions taken at General Synod on women bishops are ratified by GS two years from now, after further discussion and consideration by the dioceses of the CofE, the first female bishop could be ordained in 2014. The wheels of justice in the Church of England grind slowly....

And there's Jonathan Wynne-Jones" scarifying piece in the Telegraph:

Canon David Houlding, a prebendary at St Paul’s cathedral, estimated that as many as 200 traditionalist clergy could leave the Church, taking thousands of worshippers with them.
....

Fr Jonathan Baker, principle of Pusey House and a leading traditionalist, warned that young Anglo-Catholic priests will struggle to see a future in the Church of England.

“It is bound to be more difficult to hold on to people now,” he said. “How can you stay in a family where members of the family have no need of you.”

The continuing threats of departure became tiresome after a while, as I know from the ongoing warnings by certain members of our own Episcopal Church, who continue their stance with one foot in and one foot out of the church, all the while bemoaning the church which has fallen into heresy and revisionism and is hardly even Christian any longer. Although I wish that no one would leave, the repeated threats tempt me to give the malcontents a gentle push toward the door. But, of course, I would never do such a thing!

"...THE WORD IS VERY NEAR TO YOU...."

In his sermon posted at Ekklesiastes, Tobias Haller tells a beautiful story of faith inspired by the reading assigned for the day from Deuteronomy 30:11-14.

The commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away… No, the word is very near to you…

Listen, or read, or both. You won't be sorry. Remember that Tobias was once an actor, and he does not hesitate to use his thespian skills in preaching.

STORY OF THE DAY - IMAGINARY NUMBERS

I have a friend who does numerology in
California & she called me up one night
& said that 444 was the number of Wal-
Mart, which is 30 percent off of 666 &
we were both amazed & then I hung up
the phone & said now I remember why
we moved to Iowa.

From StoryPeople.

For all my friends in California...and my friends in Iowa

FEAST OF NATHAN SÖDERBLOM

Nathan Söderblom was born in Trönö, Sweden, in 1866 and ordained in 1893. He was chaplain at the Swedish Embassy in Paris from 1894 to 1901, and earned a doctorate in comparative religion from the Sorbonne. He then became professor of the history of religion at the University of Uppsala, and in 1914 became Archbishop of Uppsala and Primate of the Church of Sweden.

Soderblom, a Lutheran in a church that had retained the historic episcopate, valued the liturgy and devotional tradition of traditional Catholic worship, while seeing much of worth in the writings of liberal Protestant scholars. He believed it his duty to work for a united Christendom, both catholic and evangelical, and saw practical cooperation on social issues as a promising first step. During World War I, he worked tirelessly to alleviate the conditions of prisoners of war and refugees. For this and his subsequent work for Church unity and world peace, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930. At Stockholm in 1925, he organized the Universal Christian Council on Life and Work. Meanwhile, a chiefly Anglican group had formed an inter-denominational Conference on Faith and Order. In 1948 the two groups merged to form the World Council of Churches. As Archbishop of Sweden, he was concerned to deepen the channels of communication between the Church and the laboring masses, and also between the Church and the intellectuals. He died 12 July 1931.

By James Kiefer

Readings:

Psalm 133
2 Kings 22:3-13
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
John 13:31-35

PRAYER

Almighty God, we bless your Name for the life and work of Nathan Söderblom, Archbishop of Uppsala, who helped to inspire the modern liturgical revival and worked tirelessly for cooperation among Christians. Inspire us by his example, that we may ever strive for the renewal of your Church in life and worship, for the glory of your Name; who with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A man for our season or any season.

Dedicated to my Swedish Lutheran clergyman friend, Göran Koch-Swahne.

"LONG ENOUGH?"

Solemn Pontifical High Mass: 20th Anniversary of the Traditional Latin Mass (Part 7)

Sorry, folks, I know the video shows a solemn occasion, but this one had me rolling on the floor.

Many thanks to Lapin for the laugh and the title for the post.

WHAT IS A WOMAN?

A real woman is a man's best friend. She will never stand him up and never let him down. She will reassure him when he feels insecure and comfort him after a bad day. She will inspire him to do things he never thought he could do: to live without fear and to forget regret. She will enable him to express his deepest emotions and give in to his most intimate desires. She will make sure he always feels as though he's the most handsome man in the room and will enable him to be the most confident, sexy, seductive, invincible . . . .



Oh, wait . . . I'm thinking of vodka.

Never mind.


Don't blame me. Blame Paul (A.). I can't imagine how Paul's lovely wife puts up with him.

PRIMATE MADE ME DO IT

Picture and headline "borrowed" from Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish.

The link to Christopher Ryan's article in Psychology Today is worth a read.

First off, chimps aren't "our closest primate cousin," though you'll need a sharp eye to find any mention of our other, equally intimately related cousin, the bonobo in most of these "news" stories. Like a crazy relative who lives in a shed out back, bonobos tend to get mentioned in passing-if at all-in these sweeping declarations about the ancient primate roots of war. There are plenty of reasons self-respecting journalists might want to avoid talking about bonobos (their penchant for mutual masturbation, their unapologetic homosexuality and incest, a general sense of hippie-like shamelessness pervading bonobo social life), but the biggest inconvenience is the utter absence of any Viking-like behavior ever observed among bonobos. Bonobos never rape or pillage. No war. No murder. No infanticide.

Our bonobo cousins could teach humans more than a few lessons. Not a new thought, I know.

Disclaimer: Neither Andrew nor I is responsible for stray thoughts that pop into your mind from viewing the picture and the headline out of context, which thoughts have nothing whatsoever to do with Andrew's post. :-)

BRAVO, MICHAEL!

From an opinion column by Michael Gorman in the Daily Comet in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

The Nov. 2 Election Day is still months away, and already the name-calling between U.S. Senate candidates has become the hot topic on some news websites.

I haven’t heard many people talking about the race outside of the newsroom here, but the contest between U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-L.a, and U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, is going to be bitterly fought to the end.

Vitter will be scratching and clawing to hold onto his seat in the Senate even as other Republicans throughout the nation are expecting an easier time of it.

Melancon, meanwhile, will be trying desperately to oust Vitter from the Senate and claim the seat for himself.

If Vitter had been content to sit back, contribute his normal sound bites to the hate-mongering GOP crowd and unleash a torrent of anti-Obama ads this fall, he would probably be assured re-election.

After all, here in Louisiana, Obama is immensely unpopular, a fact that will only be worsened by his ongoing attempt to shut down much of the Gulf oil-and-gas activity.

Vitter wasn’t content with doing his job. Several years ago, he fessed up to being involved in a prostitute ring in Washington, D.C.

The prostitute in the center of the case has since died, hounded to her grave by federal prosecutors for her part in what is, if nothing else is, a two-party crime.

Vitter, who has acknowledged his involvement, went free with no prosecution and is now trying to continue representing our great state.

Even if his admitted sins had stopped years ago, Vitter would probably be assured of re-election.

Louisiana has never been very hard on its politicians. Just tell us what we want to hear and behave any way you like. We’ll keep sending you back to D.C.

Another scandal that some female voters might understandably find offensive has rocked Camp Vitter.

Brent Furer was a trusted aide to Vitter in 2008 when Furer pleaded guilty to holding a girlfriend at knifepoint and stabbing her in the hand.

People who might be willing to look the other way and forgive Vitter’s embarrassing sexual exploits might find the issue of domestic violence a bit more unappealing.

Vitter says now that he knew about Furer’s crimes and disciplined him. However, Furer kept his job working for the gentleman from Louisiana.

Even women who find Vitter’s disgusting brand of hate-based politics engaging might be turned off by his continued support of a victimizer of women.

Two years after the violence conviction, the incident finally cost Furer his job. A change of heart on the part of his boss? Nope. Did Furer mend his ways and decide that he had not been sufficiently punished for his crime? Nope.

What drove him out of the Vitter fold was that news about his conviction made it into the news.

So, as long as it’s just between you and Mr. Vitter, everything’s OK. Once it makes the news, all bets are off.

For his part, Melancon is making hay while the sun shines.

Read the rest here.

Bravo, Michael!

Let me tell you my friends, it takes courage to write such an opinion column in Vitter country, but I'm thankful that our local editorial page editor stepped up to tell the truth about our senator. Folks need to know. Vitter may still win the election, but he shouldn't. Any senator who knew that a member of his staff had held his girl friend captive and slashed her with a knife, and permitted the person to continue in his position for two years, does not deserve his place in the US Senate.